BW - EP138—006: Baseball Memories From Radio History—Jackie

Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting

Tuesday, April 15th, 1947. 12:30PM. It’s damp and overcast. We’re at Ebbets field in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. The visiting Boston Braves are playing the Brooklyn Dodgers on opening day. We can smell hot dogs, pretzels, popcorn, knishes, and beer. Manager Leo Deroucher has been suspended by MLB’s offices for conduct detrimental to the team. He’ll have to sit out the whole season. Burt Shotton, known to be calm and steady, is managing the Dodgers. They’re expected to contend. Red Barber is up in the press booth calling the action for CBS and Gladys Gooding is on the organ. Here with us are stadium celebs like the Dodgers Sym-phony and Hilda Chester the Cowbell Lady, along with more than twenty-six thousand others. These men, women, and children are wearing Dodgers caps, windbreakers, flannel jackets, letterman’s sweaters, sport coats, and suits. They’re Italian, African-American, Jewish, Irish, Polish, Norwegian. At 12:45 the melting pot stirs as the Dodgers trot out of the clubhouse. There’s Second Baseman Eddie Stanky, Center Fielder Peter Reiser, Catcher Bruce Edwards, and pitcher Joe Hatten. Hatten warms up as one by one the rest of the Dodgers starters come out. Right fielder Dixie Walker. Left Fielder Gene Hermanski. Third Baseman Spider Jorgensen, Shortstop Pee Wee Reese. There’s an audible buzz as the Dodgers first baseman and final starter comes out. This man was born in Cairo, Georgia. The youngest son of a sharecropper, he was a four-sport letterman at UCLA, and an Army second lieutenant in World War II. His name is Jack Roosevelt Robinson and he’s the first African-American to play in the Major Leagues since Moses Fleetwood Walker in 1884. Robinson tosses infield practice until Home Plate umpire Babe Pinell signals for the start of the game. Robinson smooths the dirt in a playing path by first base and sets himself, knees bent, slightly crouched. His glove is on the ground and open. Boston’s Shortstop Dick Culler digs in. Brooklyn’s lefty Joe Hatten winds and delivers the pitch. Culler swings and slaps a ground ball towards third base. He digs out of the batter’s box as Spider Jorgensen charges in and fields the ball on a high hop, throwing slightly off balance towards first base. Robinson, right foot on the bag, stretches as far as he can, catching Jorgensen’s throw and getting Culler out by a step. And just like that, a fifty-year old gentleman’s agreement between changing owners and the commissioner’s office, that had barred any dark skinned men from playing in the league, was dead. It died here in Flatbush at 1PM, on Tuesday April 15th, 1947 as twenty-six thousand people looked on, and wildly cheered. Later, in the bottom of the Seventh inning, after an error while batting allowed him to reach second base, Robinson scored the Dodgers fifth run of the game on a double from Pete Reiser. The Dodgers would win five to three. Although he was the subject of taunts, bean balls, spikes, and scuffles with opposing players and fans all season, Jackie Robinson had the faith of African-Americans and Brooklyn Dodgers fans, as well as the quickly-earned support of his teammates. Robinson would go on to hit .297 with one-hundred-twenty-five runs scored, forty-eight extra-base hits, and lead the league with twenty-nine stolen bases en route to winning the Rookie of the Year as the Brooklyn Dodgers went ninety-four and sixty, winning the National League pennant.